Albanian National Team. Picture By Steindy. Wikimedia

10 Best Albanian Football (Soccer) Players


 

Albania’s national football team represents Albania in men’s international football. It is administered by the Albanian Football Association, the country’s governing body.

Albania competes in the FIFA World Cup, the UEFA European Championship, and the UEFA Nations League. The three major international football events. Albania won the Balkan Cup in 1946 and the Malta Rothmans International Tournament in 2000.

The national team made its first appearance in a major men’s football event in 50 years at Euro 2016.  Albania failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup due to poor performance. However, the country has produced some of the best players and other heroes who excelled on the field. Some of them will be discussed in this article;

1. Thomas Strakosha

Thomas Strakosha in a match. Picture By kulacgmx. Wikimedia

Thomas Strakosha (born 19 March 1995) is a professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for  Premier League club  Brentford. Born in Greece, he plays for the  Albania national Team.

Born in Athens, Strakosha played youth football at  Panionos before joining the Italian club  Lazio in 2012. He made his professional debut in August 2015, while on a loan spell at  Salernitana.

Strakosha made 208 appearances in total for Lazio and won the  Coppa Italia and the  Supercoppa Italiana twice each. Strakosha made his senior international debut in March 2017 against Italy. The Goalkeeper has presented Albania in different matches that include under 17 and under 21.

2. Berat Djimsiti

Berat Ridvan Djimsiti born 19 February 1993 is a professional footballer who plays as a center-back for  Serie A club  Atalanta. Born in Switzerland to Albanian parents, he represented his birth country at the youth level before choosing to play for the  Albania national team. Berat began his youth career at FC Zürich-Affoltern where he stayed until 2007 when he moved to  FC Zurich academies at the age of 14.

 He made his professional debut on 3 March 2012 against Sion. He scored his first goal for Zürich on 20 May 2012 against  Grasshopper, where he played as a starter and scored in the 75th minute to give his team a 0–1 away victory. Those were his only matches for the entire season.

He became a regular starter in the 2012–13 season. He is a right-be-footed player and well known for winning the ball back. Berat Djimsiti’s current transfer value is between €16M and €27M. His last transfer was from Atalanta to Benevento in 2017. Benevento loaned Berat Djimsiti for free from Atalanta. Berat Djimsiti Rating is 79. His potential is 79 and his position is CB.

3. Elseid Hysaj

Elseid Gzim Hysaj (born 2 February 1994) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Serie A club Lazio and as captain of the Albania national team.

 On 22 March 2013, he made his competitive debut for Albania in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Norway. Coming on as a substitute in the 80th minute in place of Armend Dallku, the match ended in a vital away 0-1 victory.

On November 15, 2013, he was called up to the senior team once more for a friendly match against Belarus. Hysaj kept his starting spot in Albania’s FIFA World, appearing in three first-round matches for the entire 90 minutes. He excels at defense, shooting, and long passes.

4. Ivan Balliu

Ivan Balliu. Picture Courtesy of Supporterhéninois. Wikimedia

Iván Balliu Campeny (born 1 January 1992) is a professional footballer who plays as a  right-back for  Rayo Vallecano and the Albania national team.

 Balliu represented his native Spain at the Youth level before declaring for  Albania, for which he qualified via his father. He was first included in an Albanian senior squad in 2017, making his debut in October of that year.

Ivan has played for Barcelona, Arouca, Metz, Almeria, and Rayo Vallecano. He is good at interceptions, pace, shooting, and positioning.

5. Armando Broja

Armando Broja. Picture By Chelsea Debs. Wikimedia

Armando Broja born 10 September 2001, is a professional footballer who plays as a  forward for  Premier League club  Chelsea. Born in England, he represents the  Albania national team. He began his football career with Burnham Juniors.

He then went on a few trials with Reading and Fulham, before signing with  Tottenham Hotspur and joining their under-8 selection.  After a two-year stint at Tottenham, Broja joined Chelsea Academy in 2009.  

2nd September 2022, Broja signed a new long-term contract in 2028 with Chelsea. On 7 September 2020, he made his debut in a 1–0 home loss against  Lithuania. On 5 September 2021, Broja scored his first senior goal in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against  Hungary, helping his team to a 1–0 victory. At a young age, he appeared in UEFA Champions League due to his pace, dribbling, and ball control.

6. Taulant Xhaka

Taulant Ragip Xhaka (born 28 March 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a  defensive midfielder for the Swiss Super League club Basel. Born in Switzerland, he represented the Albania national team.

 He is the elder brother of  Granit Xhaka, who is a professional footballer who plays for  Arsenal and the  Switzerland national team. The family moved from Yugoslavia to Switzerland in 1990, where both brothers were born. He played for Grasshopper on loan and later returned to Basel. 

In May 2013, Xhaka expressed his wish to represent Albania’s senior team, adding that his choice of Albania was definitive. Later in October, he told the media that his choice to play for Albania was influenced by his younger brother Granit.

On 18 December of the same year, he received  Albanian citizenship, though he still required approval from FIFA in order to represent Albania internationally. He has won the Swiss Super League, and the Swiss cup. He is aggressive, has good long passes, and is creative.

7. Lorik Cana

Lorik Cana. Picture By Guillaume Chagnard. Wikimedia

 born 27 July 1983) is an Albanian former professional footballer. He is currently the Grassroots ambassador for children’s football in Albania, named by the  Albanian football Association on 26 October 2017.

In 1997, Cana joined the local team Dradania Lausanne, an amateur football club founded by the  Albanian Community in Lausanne, and coached by his father. He played at Dardania until 2000 when he was spotted and signed by French club  Paris saint- Germain.

He has played for Olympique Marseille, Sunderland, Galatasary, Lazio, and Nantes. Cana has won League trophies with all the teams that he played for. Moreso, several individual awards include the best player of the season and ambassador.

Cana announced his retirement from international football on 23 June 2016. On 26 October 2017, he was named by the  Albanian football Association as the grassroots ambassador for football in Albania.

8. Erjon Bogdani

Erjon Bogdani (born 14 April 1977) is an Albanian professional soccer coach and former player who is the current manager of Albania under 19 team. He is nicknamed “Bogu” or “Er-Bomber.”Erjon is one of the most successful Center forward Albanian players of all time, Bogdani began his career at  Partizani Trana in 1994 where he debuted at the age of 16.

Bogdani has 74 caps for  Albania national team, making his debut in 1996 and scoring his first goal three years later. With 18 goals, he is Albania’s all-time top goalscorer, overtaking his former teammate  Alban Bushi in 2011 by netting his 15th goal.

He holds numerous Albanian records, including most goals as a substitute and oldest goalscoring in history, and has been dubbed as the best striker to play for the Red and Black. 

He has represented Reggina, Hellas Verona, Siena,and Chievo Verona. Bogdani scored his first international goal on 10 February 1999 in the 2–0 friendly win over  Macedonia. He retired having a record of many goals in Albania.

9. Panajot Pano

Born on 7 March 1939 – 19 January 2010, Pano was an Albanian football player. He started his career as a goalkeeper in the  17 Nentori Tirana youth academy, but later became the most prolific center-forward of their arch-rivals,  Partizani Tirana.

During his eighteen-year career, he played 24 matches as part of the  Albanian national football team and was awarded the Albanian  UEFA Jubilee Award. Pano has been an  Albanian International, earning 28 caps and scoring 4 goals between 1963 and 1973.

He also captained the national team on 10 occasions. He scored his first international goal on 30 October 1963 against  Denmark in the  1964 European Nations Cup qualifying stage which marked Albania’s first-ever win in a qualifying match.

In November 2003, to celebrate  UEFA’s Jubilee, he was selected as the Golden Player of Albania by the  Football Association of Albania as their most outstanding player of the past 50 years. The talented player has won several honors that include the league cups, player of the season, and top goalscorer.

10. Altin Lala

Altin Lala. Picture By Barbara Mürdter. Wikimedia

Altin Dode Lala (born 18 November 1975) is an  Albanian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder and former manager. He spent his entire playing career in Germany and represented the  Albanian national football team.

He featured for Borussia Fulda, Hannover 96 and  Bayern Munich II. Altin recorded 79 appearances for Albania’s national team. He is currently the second highest in Albania International history, being overtaken only by Lorik Cana in 2014. Lala has also scored three goals for his country.

Lala was named assistant coach of the Albania national football team by head coach Gianni De Biasi on March 3, 2014. Replacing previous assistant Angelo Perini. On 12 August 2014, Lala was named as the  Albania nation under 19 football team coach, after the previous coach  Foto Strakosha left to work for  Olympiakos.